Have there been any studies done on the effect on gold/treasure/pyramid building and how such a vast waste of resources had a detrimental effect on the economy of ancient Egypt? Like if you buried that much gold in the ground today and weren't able to use it as collateral for goods/services, I'd image it'd have a pretty devastating effect as well. Lots of Ancient Cultures (including those in China and South America) put lots of resources into goods/offering to "the gods," only to never be able to use those resources again. Have there been any studies on the impact of what would've happened had these societies not done that?

Thank you!